


days gone by

by alextheace



Series: The Book of Us. [3]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO, Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin
Genre: Breaking Up & Making Up, College, Dating, Drinking to Cope, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, M/M, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Personal Growth, Poor Life Choices, Slice of Life, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 14:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30006384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alextheace/pseuds/alextheace
Summary: After high school there's a grey area we call "growing up too fast and not knowing what to do" there's so much things that can happen in that period of time that can define how someone can be as an adult.We've watched them leaving high school and now we'll see them growing up as adults before sending them a farewell on their now stablished life's.Drinking can be heavier that what it usually was, smoking can be worse than what it was, some relationships aren't what they were before.Growing up is about to end, life goes on and soon their life will continue without us too.Let's remember how good this days are before they're gone.
Relationships: Hiura Kirina/Mizukamiya Seiryuu, Ibuki Munemasa/Nozaki Sakura, Ichino Nanasuke/Mizukawa Minori, Kariya Masaki/Kirino Ranmaru, Kira Hiroto/Kiyama Tatsuya | Kiyama Hiroto | Gran, Kudou Fuyuka/Tobitaka Seiya, Mikado Anna/Nosaka Yuuma, Nishiki Ryouma/Seto Midori
Series: The Book of Us. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1513520
Kudos: 3





	days gone by

** Class of... **

“The kids who were once entering these gates are now going out as young adults ready to see and explore the world like no one else has expected. For almost 70 years this institution has seen generations graduating and every year I see even more clever and brilliant young people ready to explore the world. You might find sometimes that life as an adult is not what has been promised to you, you might experience the heartbreak of what ‘true life’ is, but I ask you, is that  _ enough _ to shut down the undying spirit of who  _ you are _ ? Never give up and even more, don’t give an inch to stop believing in your talents because...you know yourself better than anyone else, don’t give nobody the pleasure of reading you or figuring you out.”

The voice of the headmaster kept on rambling while the group of teenagers were either too focused or too bored to keep on listening, the flowers attached to their uniform for one last time gave everyone a rather formal look. It was a chilly March morning and while the third years were standing in front row of the auditorium, the little whispers of their juniors instead of being annoying was somehow nostalgic. They were once in the other side of the auditorium, but now, now they were on the front side, with all those years of school done and good. It was a little bit sad to think it was over, but there was also a feeling of relieve once you realize the world opens up somehow to one want.

The whole speech, the whole aura of the auditorium was making more than one tear up, but Tsurugi was rather weirded out of how it all seemed...not hopeful for a better future.

He had an average score on his college entrance exams so he had to apply to community college, he wasn’t that interested on cool stuff like fashion or arts, his path was the good old economics and with a little bit of luck he could get a job on a bank and touch the idly 9 to 5 job most grownups liked. He didn’t think it was terrible to do all the applications running on a deadline due to his low scores, but he did think it was a bother to see a lot of his classmates not knowing what department to apply with less than a month to start their lives as college students.

“...It doesn’t matter what happens in the end...as long as you remember who you are and who was there for you on the most turbulent years of your life.” The headmaster ended his speech as everyone clapped to his words. As now one of the teachers explained over the microphone everyone was now going to go to their respective classrooms, get their diplomas and after that they were free to go, to the outside, to the scary real world.

Ibuki had told him that being a grownup wasn’t that difficult, he had a whole year of experience over him, now he was able to drink without being scared of being caught, he had the same or slightly more pressure that school used to put on him, he could now stay up all night because his parents were no longer responsible of his basic necessities. The only thing on his mind was going with his friends and buy all of those things that only adults could. He appreciated Ibuki’s words, but all that grown up topics was more hopeless as he wanted to admit.

He was scared of how ruthless the world is, he didn’t know what to do, he was so lost because from one day to another his whole routine was going to change, he had to learn new travel routes, new streets, new bus schedules, new names...new everything. His friends were acting more cheerful than him, even though he knew this was the last day in a very long time they would hang out together again he seemed to be the only one feeling confused and angry that that day was happening. One of his fears was now  materializing . 

“Nozaki Sakura” The voice of his head teacher shook him out of his trance as he saw her standing up and walking towards the blackboard grabbing a little folder with a diploma from the school, her hair was now mid-back long in  contrast how the last year it was barely passing her shoulders, she was using the formal  uniform which gave her a rather adult look, was it really how he looked now?

All his friend's names were called and everyone looked rather cheerful and holding back some couple of happy tears, everyone either was too happy or too sad it was ending. 

“Kyosuke Tsurugi” The homeroom teacher called his name and as he heard his friends cheering his name, he was actually very popular in class that almost everyone was yelling his name clapping at his accomplishment. No one thought he was going to graduate due to his laziness and his zero to none interest in class, but there he was, with a mark that allowed him to pass and at least he could brag about the fact he was able to complete high school (something that not everyone in his own family was able to do)

He held the folder with his diploma with his fingertips as the teacher’s smile resonated with him, it was a rather proud smile, it was all over their eyes as well, they were probably one of the very few adults that looked proudly at him, it was almost as if he could hear them saying how proud they were about graduating. He forgot how young he was that the eyes of pride of someone older than him almost made him sob. 

Hearing for over a year that once he had that diploma on his hands made him an adult was an incredible build up to that moment, but when the thing he faced were a pair of eyes looking at him not like a child but like a growing young adult made him feel a little bit more relieved. Nobody knew how greatly the pressure of having life figured it out was for him that when he realized he was still young and allowed to commit mistakes at that exact moment he could almost feel the desire of never leaving school yet at the same time the desire to explore how greatly and  unknown the outer world was tearing him  apart .

“I know that having a speech isn’t something that we normally do, but I just want to take a moment to say how proud I am of all of you. It was one of my greatest pleasures to be your head teacher this year, you all are one of the greatest students ever, sharing conversations and enjoying more than one school activity was one of the best memories I've ever had in my life. Now, when I see you again, I will no longer see a teenager but a growing person becoming an adult.” The teacher said after delivering all the diplomas, some students were already tearing up and some others were laughing to ease the tension, or maybe just avoid to cry. “I don’t believe that you have your life figured it out at once, there’s so much fear of what the future might hold, so much doubt if we are truly capable of making it, but just remember, you’re not alone and no matter how hard things seem to be at the lowest point, it always gets better. Try and keep on trying to achieve your dreams, don’t let no one tell you otherwise and always remember there’s the next day to keep improving, to show yourself how capable you are to do your own history something you can’t erase from your memory. Thank you so much for this year, please continue to be happy, you’ve made it.”

-

The chilly air of mid-morning greeted Tsurugi as he was now walking out of the school, after a couple of minutes of photos with his friends, goodbyes to the teachers and administrative staff from his school, he was now walking down the stairs as he felt a hit of nostalgia. He remembered how him and his friends would run up the stairs on his first year because they were running late to class, how he would interrupt a couple making out in the stairs on his second year and how on his third year his friends would lazily go up the stairs because there was no interest whatsoever in looking cool anymore, just getting it over on his senior and final year.

They were very few people still in school, his friends were joking around and cracking up as they were waiting for him to finish walking down the stairs. They were a very big group of friends now that he realized, almost everyone who played in the team back in middle school was there, half a classroom if we were up to making count. All the faces had changed over the years, most of them looked now more mature and taller, long hairs that would most likely get cut once a job offer arrived their way, it was so strange how everyone was now so different to the eye but to him they were still those annoying kids who were kind to him when he switched schools. 

Tenma cleared his throat as everyone quieted down their chatter and focused on the  brown-haired teen. 

“Ladies, gentlemen, we’ve finally reached that day. The day where we leave this hell hole.” He said in a jolly voice. “Now, if everyone can be a doll and remove the indoor school shoes and leave them in the basket to symbolize our goodbye to this place. After that we’ll step out of here, go to the park down the street and celebrate it’s over...and according to  Minamisawa have a godly lunch in the convenience store with ramen, pizza and all of the junk food you can imagine.” Tenma paused as he saw how some of his friends were smiling and the other half was crying, his smile got bigger and his expression had a warm feeling to it, something that caught Tsurugi’s eye. “We’ve made it, now let’s get out of here.”

As he held his rubber shoes who were a little bit worn off, Tsurugi felt an urge to look back to the empty hallways, the building and how the colors on the walls that one day were too boring for him and that now they were starting to look as the coolest colors ever. He walked behind his friends that one by one were leaving their shoes and that some of them were saying some words, it wasn’t clear if it was towards the building or the now gone school days, but it was clear it was a farewell.

He gave one final look to his shoes and as he placed them in the basket he started to wonder, wonder if school and grownups life was really bound to be boring and hopeless, he wondered if life was supposed to be a given ending once you become an adult. There was a clear road for him that he had chosen, the road most adults took once they were on his position, but now that road seemed too boring to be taken. As he rubbed his thumb on his shoes, he placed them on the basket that was now overflowing from all the student's shoes and gave one final look around while realizing how wrong he had been all this time.

“Being an adult is not a certain type of role in life, it’s a concept that can’t be defined to a standard way of living. This school kept on telling us what a grownup is not even knowing that. It scared us for nothing...but now I think I get it. Being a grownup is not being like them, it’s being true to what we are, knowing now what’s good and bad. It has always been knowing that even adults aren’t just that, they’re humans and as humans' mistakes are bound to happen. And you know what? I can’t wait to fuck it up knowing that it’s not the end of the world.” He said with a smirk as he turned around, walking away and thanking over and over again to that boring and annoying school building, thanking him for every single thing it gave him, thanking him for all the good and the bad. 

His friends were teasing him on how cheesy that had sounded, but he knew that in the very bottom of their hearts they were all feeling the same things he was. 

Fuck a conventional career, fuck the 9 to 5 job, it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to do much more than live life and being a carbon copy of somebody else. Tsurugi knew now that being somehow of a responsible soul was knowing that mistakes are bound to happen, and that the responsibility of owning up to them was entirely on his hands and he was very used to it, whatever was coming now he was more than ready.

-

As his friends were talking over each other with their messy uniforms undone, eating and devouring the food in front of them, the chatter and crazy talk, Tsurugi was ordering his food as the cashier handed him the change. His eyes focused on the tall man in front of him and his face seemed familiar somehow. 

The cashier had long purple hair, his eyes had a slightly smudged eye liner and he could see that under their apron he had a black t-shirt of some rock band. He looked laid back that when he started laughing looking at the direction of his friends Tsurugi laughed with him.

“You guys from Raimon? I graduated from there a couple of years ago” He said as Tsurugi grabbed his food making his face light up slightly. 

“That’s cool." He paused, as he was reading to go back to his table, yet, the question, the curiosity, the confirmation of what he was fearing punched him back on his face that he had to ask him. “How is it...how is it growing up?”

The man stared at him with a fond smile before he laughed, it wasn’t a mocking laugh, it was more like a nervous laugh since he probably wasn’t expecting a young student to ask him how life was. After clearing out his throat he smiled at Tsurugi. “It’s all good. It gets a little hard from time to time but it’s all good. My girlfriend and I are living together and I’m about to graduate from college, I just need some money to help paying the bills. But that’s nothing compared to the cool things that had happened to me. People can’t believe I’m still at college at my big age, but I guess everyone takes their time. You just need to remember, you’re not entirely alone and your friends...” he pointed at them as now Shindou was having a soda drinking contest with Kariya making all of his friends cheer loudly driving the attention to them. “They will always  get your back, even if you don’t see them every day as you used to.”

Before answering him, a customer caught his attention and he had to leave Tsurugi. He turned around towards his friends who were calling him to join the cheering for the contest, without doubting it he joined them as the cheers got louder winning some judging looks from the old people who looked like the earth was already claiming them back.

It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks anymore. Yes, growing up it’s scary but it’s part of the  journey of what being a human being is. 

Tsurugi knew it, whether they would buy alcohol after this now that they were legally old to buy it or if they decided to make a fool of themselves in the streets it was all going to be okay.

Life is just starting.

**Author's Note:**

> Any updates and new chapters are going to be updated on Thursdays or Fridays.  
> Sometimes i do have a lack of ideas and don't post for a couple of months but I promise you that this work will be ended!!! Doesn't matter how long it takes you'll get a complete and finished series from me!
> 
> Let's enjoy a little peek of how I feel adulting would be for the Inazuma Eleven franchise characters. You'll get a lot from me this time!!! (yes, that includes *cof cof wedding/s*) And if you have any ideas or headcanons from this work please be free to share them, I love hcs a lot. 
> 
> In every chapter there's going to be a "key song" that inspired me to write said chapter. For the first chapter it wasn't an specific song but Radwimps discography gave me inspiration to begin this work. Please give them a listen and I hope all songs I share with you are your cup of tea.
> 
> I guess there's nothing for me to say right now...only that we're starting the last work of my series and I'm honestly so very excited for it. Wanna join me?


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